OK. So my last post pertained to a bad texture job on the ceiling of my not quite year old manufactured home. The factory is going to come out in two weeks and fix that. My next question is this. I took a 4 foot level and from the side wall I measured about a 3/4 inch gap between the level and floor. Is this considered normal on a mobile home? I was told it had to do with the flooring which is tile. He said that more glue could have been used in a certain area. It is flat, but not level.

The ONLY accurate way to level a home is with a water level on the frame. I make a chart with all of the pier locations, Start in the middle and make that "0" . Plot the next pier and mark any change in height as +/- " you can also use caulk on the frame . once you have all of the pier heights measured you can see what has to be done to make the home level.

What you're saying is that it's not flat. I had quite the issue/annoyance with my place when I got it in that the flooring cupped quite a bit and I was in the process of putting down laminates (removed old, crappy carpeting). I ended up using leveling compound.

I wonder if that indicates the home needs to be leveled? Unfortunately it costs the same to have someone come out and check the level as it does to level it if indeed it is out of level. Around $400 last time I checked.

"Flat" is NOT the same as "level." You can have a perfectly flat surface that is not level.

I'll return the example of my house... [with carpeting removed- because I was ripping it all out] I found that laying a straight edge across the floor spanning the floor joists I could see that there was a sag/cupping. My house has the sawdust flooring sheets, which don't have a lot of integrity. I ended up using leveling compound to smooth things out in order to install laminate flooring (which only tolerates a small amount of deflection).

One can take a cheap laser level and shoot across the floor (on smooth surfaces) and see if the walls are lower, higher, or the same. One can also take a regular bubble level and run it along the rim joist to get a general idea of levelness. This is only to get a rough idea if something is out of whack; it doesn't serve as a means for doing proper leveling.

A nice, longer straight edge can be used across floor joists (tend to run perpendicular to outer walls) to see if there's any dip between them (gaps under the straight edge): possible to have humps too.

I did all the flooring work, and am doing rim joist replacement w/o leveling. I'm on a concrete pad. There has been no changes to any of the support pieces. The sampling of level that I've done shows things to be in good shape. Perhaps not perfect, but close enough that I have detected no issues.

Yes, a bubble level will be enough to check whether your floor is slanted or not, as long as you run it all accross the length of the mobile home and accross its width as well (because it may be slanted in another direction); I've recently spent no less than three weeks doing that kind of things all day long as I was giving insurance quotes for flats for sale in Berlin , so I've gotten quite knowledgeable about that topic or at least, I think I am, feel free to correct me if I'm not.
Of course, it'd be easier and more accurate with a laser level, but for something smaller like, well, a mobile home, it's perfectly possible to check it with basic tools. Please make sure, though, that you get a long level, one that's at least 1 foot long, because shorter one may not notice slight deformations.

Last edited by Lancer21 on Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

You cannot level a mobile home accurately with a carpenters level. you can get a bubble to center and not move when you raise it 1/16 - 1/8". Carry this line over an 80' span and you will be at least an inch off over the span. Water level is the only way to do it with accuracy.